Ripleys
n.— «Hey Harry, I got a guy hot for an ad car (a cheap, optionless car heavily advertised to lure people in to buy a more expensive model). His old car’s got a few Ripley’s (old damage, badly repaired, from Ripley’s Believe it Or Not), but this guy’s hung (ready to sign the papers).» —“Always Be Jargoning: Words from the Car Sales Biz” by Robert Farago Jalopnik Feb. 5, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
In 1971, when a new public library opened in Troy, Michigan, famous authors and artists were invited to write letters to the city’s youngest readers, extolling the many benefits of libraries. One of the loveliest was from E.B. White, author of...
A hundred years ago, suffragists lobbied to win women the right to vote. Linguistically speaking, though, suffrage isn’t about “suffering.” It’s from a Latin word that involves voting. Plus: military cadences often include...